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Indoor Sculpture Fest

July 13 - October 31

The Sculpture show will feature indoor sculptures by Suzanne Benton, listed in Who’s Who of America and Who’s Who of American Artists, an international artist whose works are in private collections worldwide; Dalton Ghetti, a Brazilian-born pencil sculptor whose work is currently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England; Janice Mauro , a member of the National Sculpture Society, and teacher at the National Academy of Arts; Justin Perlman, an internationally trained sculptor and winner of the Marquis Who’s Who in American Art Reference Award; and Patricia Warfield, recognized nationally as a consummate artist, is constantly experimenting with a wide variety of media; and others.

Suzanne Benton - Midnight Mystery
Suzanne Benton found her medium in the welding torch, which she describes as the great transformer. It brought her into a cosmic world, she was compelled to live consciously every day, watching, making the metal move according to her will, her intuition, her brain. She was enchanted by the repetitive actions and the shapes as they appeared before her.

Dalton Ghetti - Pencil Sculptures
Dalton Ghetti, pencil sculptor, was born and raised in Brazil and came to the United States in 1985 at the age of 24. He began learning how to handle tools at the age of 6 when he and other classmates used a razor blade or a pocket knife to sharpen their pencils for drawing and writing. His mother, a seamstress, also taught him how to use a sewing needle. So at a young age he began to make boxes and toys, and later sculpting larger objects with knives chisels and a hammer. It was not until 1986, after he had arrived in the U.S. that his interest in small living things inspired him to create the smallest possible carvings that could be seen with the naked eye. He picked up a working pencil and began carving, using a sewing needle and a small metal blade. His intention is to bring people’s attention to small things. Sculpting pencils is a form of meditation and requires a lot of patience. His subjects are things which resonate with his life. His work has just returned from an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Janice Mauro - Ninja Turtle Totem
This work is part of a much larger project that describes the future of mankind, a kind of future mythology. It began in 2006 with an archeological dig from the future. The Ninja piece is from the latest story based on a future art collector. Here is her [mythological] testimony:
Sacred Wood Ninja Totem, 2040-2050 The Sacred Wood Ninja Totem is the first known effort of surviving humanoids to create art during the flood which was to change the course of civilization as they knew it. The rarity of wood, which perished in the Tidal Decade, attests not only to the date, but to the importance humanoids bestowed upon the Ninja, one of the few animals able to endure the deluge, helping the humanoid race survive starvation by providing a source of food protein. Miraculously preserved in the deep recesses of a mountaintop cave, the work was carved with tools that the artist managed to save from the floodwaters. Careful observation will reveal icons etched into the surface by the tool markings, representing eternity, fertility, and the humanoid race. Whether or not the Ninja, at this early date, had already come to represent the afterlife is still a subject of study, but it is certain that the creature held a place of honor in humanoid civilization before the Tidal Decade.

Justin Perlman - Tree Bowl, Crane in Red & Persephone
The three pieces in this show were completed within this past year, with the Tree Bowl, and “Crane in Red” being finished only within the last few of months. Though they are different works, even in the case of “Persephone”, a different material, Justin sees them as connected entities. Justin has been interested in textures as of late, both physical and visual, and he feels these three works reflect that. Like most artists, he takes his inspiration from the world around him. His choices of theme often range from allegorical stories, to the natural world, and he is comfortable weaving them together, but he is not a strict adherent to his thematic choices. Being a sculptor, he allows the materials themselves to take an active part in what the work becomes, and at times that will take him in an entirely new direction than he had set upon. “Persephone” for example, started out as a simple exorcise in an abstracted figure. Justin had a small block of marble that was given to him, and it had a giant flaw running at an angle right through it which severely limited how much of the stone was actually usable. As he worked on the piece, he found that the most flawed side was more stable then he had expected, and being unable to waste stone, he attempted to carve a tree. The piece had an uplifted quality which made Justin think of a woman leaping outwards, freeing herself, which led to thoughts of spring time when nature is released, which reminded him of the Greek story that tells of Persephone as she is freed from the underworld once a year.

Patricia Warfield - The Messenger
Patricia Warfield tends to work in series, taking a germ of an idea and developing it to its fullest extent. Her Crow Series is such a one. Inspired by The Dog Years, a novel by Gunter Grass, she conceived of this series as being, in her words, “original, seductive, intriguing and a bit eerie. Scarecrows should be ‘scary crows.’ ALPHA CROWS!” The Crow Series comprises several paintings and drawings, one completed sculpture, “The Messenger,” and another sculpture in the works. When “The Messenger” was nearly complete, it was set out in the garden for a day. “After one day in the garden,” she boasts, “no crows appeared for weeks.”